Dogged Auckland have potential to surprise

Auckland Aces may be one of the smallest fish in the Champions League T20 and the side that has traveled the furthest to compete, but as Sialkot and Hampshire discovered in the qualifiers, their bite can be just as fearsome as that of the bigger predators around. Auckland had failed to qualify for the Champions League main event in 2011, but have turned the disappointment of that failure into determination. They arrived in South Africa two weeks before the qualifying round to acclimatise and prepare after a wet New Zealand winter, and two emphatic victories first up suggests the extra investment was a worthwhile one.

Auckland have the advantage of not having to surrender any of their best players to the IPL sides, and the explosive top order that was the bedrock of their HRV Cup success has already shown glimpses of form in South Africa. In Martin Guptill and Azhar Mahmood, Auckland have two of the more under-rated strikers of the ball, and although Lou Vincent only played a limited role in the HRV Cup because of injury, he has been a vital cog in the Auckland machine for years. Colin Munro, Anaru Kitchen and Colin de Grandhomme also pack plenty of firepower through the middle, with de Grandhomme having been elevated to the international Twenty20 side after he showcased a zest for finishing powerfully in the domestic competition.

The bowling is spearheaded by Kyle Mills, and though it is not an attack that will daunt their Champions League opposition, it has the variety to expose an array of flaws. Left armer Michael Bates made a name for himself as a death-bowling specialist, but proved penetrative at the top of the innings in the last HRV cup, while Mills and Andre Adams have enough experience between them to defuse most crises. Azhar Mahmood is another steady seam option, and Ronnie Hira provides miserly left-arm spin as well. Like de Grandhomme, both Bates and Hira also earned international call-ups on the back of their HRV Cup performances. The bowling is supported superlatively in the field, and Auckland can claim to be among the best domestic fielding sides in the world.

How they qualified

Auckland won eight of the ten matches they played in the HRV Cup, and were effectively frontrunners for the entire competition. They had lost their last round-robin game to Canterbury, but regrouped beautifully to bury the same team by 44 runs in a one-sided final.

Key player

Martin Guptill was the HRV Cup's top runscorer, and he carried that form into New Zealand's home summer, in which he made five international fifties in a row. Brutal down the ground and almost as quick to dispatch short bowling, Auckland will almost invariably be competitive when he has a good day. He does tend to fall over to the offside, making him a candidate for LBWs on seaming pitches, but Auckland will expect him to overcome that weakness and provide the fillips they have grown accustomed to from him at the beginning of the innings.

Surprise package

Ronnie Hira's forte is his parsimony, but he topped the wicket-taker's list in the HRV Cup with 14 scalps - most of which came when batsmen looked to attack him. He can also sustain a good strike rate over short bursts, and is one of the best fielders in a side littered with quick movers.

Weakness

Auckland's batsmen have flourished against pace, but with precious little high quality spin going around in New Zealand's domestic circuit, oppositions may want to test them with slow bowling early in their innings. The middle order in particular is limited in its range of strokes, and if spinners can force the batsmen to hit to less-favoured parts of the ground, they may expose flaws in their techniques.

I think if there is a 5th slot then They could have taken Saquib .Otherwise Lee is always a better player with Ball and bat some days.
About L Balaji He is going through a very bad form-he should not be continuing as he is gifting 18 runs easily on many overs .
Azar Mahmood is a good player he must be laughing as all the other Pak players seeing the bad plight of the Indian Players including the great Tendulkar who is nothing but a shadow of himself.What he is going to achieve by playing this tournament-why not they give a chnace to a new comer another Tendulkar may come..Regarding Indian bowlers let them seek for more and more new ball bowlers as the present Indian bolwers are coming next to total failure on many occasions.They needa new back up bowlers -like Aussies and Pakistanies.Do we have any chnace get two or three good bowlers aprt from the regular below par bowlers

Afrikaanse_Hoer_Seunskool
on October 15, 2012, 14:05 GMT

The indian teams are over hyped and it time for the kiwis to show some grit, the conditions should favour them

shortsillypoint
on October 15, 2012, 13:14 GMT

Predicting Mills to pick up wickets and Vincent to pick up runs. McCullum to go big or out. AA looked very tidy as a team in the prelims so KKR will need to stay awake.
Cpt Meanster -- its sad to be so young and so cynical -ha - but then cynics are often right.

Tamim420
on October 15, 2012, 12:58 GMT

Without Sakib impossible to comeback KKR. Team management should mind it that sakib was playing a good score against pakistan (World best bowling side).
Another is Newzeland cricketer's are always weak against spin. So that its important to add a spin bowler.

on October 15, 2012, 12:42 GMT

Auckland will win this one through guts and teamwork. Kkr just rely on their overseas imports and if a genuine domestic side would not even make it into this competition. Kkr trying to buy their wins. Aa trying to play better cricket

Edassery
on October 15, 2012, 10:38 GMT

It's predictably awkward to see Indian IPL players going clueless against bounce and carry of even first class level bowlers. At the moment, Indian teams participating here doesn't have a single good Indian batsman that can play under testing conditions... Apart from Unmukt Chand may be...

Sudhir65
on October 15, 2012, 9:43 GMT

KKR will walk over Auckland

baghels.a
on October 15, 2012, 9:09 GMT

Keep your chin up Cpt.Meanster, i know you are an IPL and India supporter through thick and thin. Give Indian players some time and they will rise, afterall didn't our u-19 team won the WC in tougher conditions with 50 overs to face.Yes we play better in home conditions but sure the can adapt which they have done in the past to be no.i in tests and odi's.BTW most of the professional franchises are manufactured for eg- MAN C,PSG but that didn't stop Man C from winning EPL.... but do feel IPL teams need to play together more than just 50 days of IPL , why can't they replace some of our inept state associations and play even 50 over cricket !!!! @WickyRoy.paklover when will you give an unprejudiced view of Indian cricket or will you continue the hating ??

on October 15, 2012, 8:40 GMT

Auckland Aces is a surprise package for CL T20 2012, as we had T&T in previous editions... very simple, if Azhar Mehmood & Guptill click, they can won any of the match then.

on October 14, 2012, 23:53 GMT

NZ & anyone playing Australia!

baranasai
on October 15, 2012, 18:17 GMT

I think if there is a 5th slot then They could have taken Saquib .Otherwise Lee is always a better player with Ball and bat some days.
About L Balaji He is going through a very bad form-he should not be continuing as he is gifting 18 runs easily on many overs .
Azar Mahmood is a good player he must be laughing as all the other Pak players seeing the bad plight of the Indian Players including the great Tendulkar who is nothing but a shadow of himself.What he is going to achieve by playing this tournament-why not they give a chnace to a new comer another Tendulkar may come..Regarding Indian bowlers let them seek for more and more new ball bowlers as the present Indian bolwers are coming next to total failure on many occasions.They needa new back up bowlers -like Aussies and Pakistanies.Do we have any chnace get two or three good bowlers aprt from the regular below par bowlers

Afrikaanse_Hoer_Seunskool
on October 15, 2012, 14:05 GMT

The indian teams are over hyped and it time for the kiwis to show some grit, the conditions should favour them

shortsillypoint
on October 15, 2012, 13:14 GMT

Predicting Mills to pick up wickets and Vincent to pick up runs. McCullum to go big or out. AA looked very tidy as a team in the prelims so KKR will need to stay awake.
Cpt Meanster -- its sad to be so young and so cynical -ha - but then cynics are often right.

Tamim420
on October 15, 2012, 12:58 GMT

Without Sakib impossible to comeback KKR. Team management should mind it that sakib was playing a good score against pakistan (World best bowling side).
Another is Newzeland cricketer's are always weak against spin. So that its important to add a spin bowler.

on October 15, 2012, 12:42 GMT

Auckland will win this one through guts and teamwork. Kkr just rely on their overseas imports and if a genuine domestic side would not even make it into this competition. Kkr trying to buy their wins. Aa trying to play better cricket

Edassery
on October 15, 2012, 10:38 GMT

It's predictably awkward to see Indian IPL players going clueless against bounce and carry of even first class level bowlers. At the moment, Indian teams participating here doesn't have a single good Indian batsman that can play under testing conditions... Apart from Unmukt Chand may be...

Sudhir65
on October 15, 2012, 9:43 GMT

KKR will walk over Auckland

baghels.a
on October 15, 2012, 9:09 GMT

Keep your chin up Cpt.Meanster, i know you are an IPL and India supporter through thick and thin. Give Indian players some time and they will rise, afterall didn't our u-19 team won the WC in tougher conditions with 50 overs to face.Yes we play better in home conditions but sure the can adapt which they have done in the past to be no.i in tests and odi's.BTW most of the professional franchises are manufactured for eg- MAN C,PSG but that didn't stop Man C from winning EPL.... but do feel IPL teams need to play together more than just 50 days of IPL , why can't they replace some of our inept state associations and play even 50 over cricket !!!! @WickyRoy.paklover when will you give an unprejudiced view of Indian cricket or will you continue the hating ??

on October 15, 2012, 8:40 GMT

Auckland Aces is a surprise package for CL T20 2012, as we had T&T in previous editions... very simple, if Azhar Mehmood & Guptill click, they can won any of the match then.

on October 14, 2012, 23:53 GMT

NZ & anyone playing Australia!

WickyRoy.paklover
on October 14, 2012, 22:06 GMT

@Cpt Meanster,hats off to ur unprejudice anaylsis.

Cpt.Meanster
on October 14, 2012, 20:13 GMT

I think Auckland will whack the KKR. The Indian players are mediocre. Gambhir cannot buy a run at the moment, Balaji is one of the worse bowlers in the game, and all rest of the Indian players can ONLY play in India. Even their international stars are only in it for the money. On the other hand, Auckland have a strong vibe. They are all kiwi boys playing together as a unit. You cannot buy that with money. No matter how much I love the IPL, I have to be practical in my aspirations. The IPL sides are manufactured teams built on the values of corporate finance, salary caps, auctions, glamour and glitz. Team ethics is non-existent in them. Only the Delhi Daredevils look like getting anywhere closer to the semi finals. Even they are dependent on the overseas players. The local Indian players are simply not good enough to play at this level, period.

on October 14, 2012, 19:18 GMT

nice precise anaylassis
ther are much better when chasing....

No featured comments at the moment.

on October 14, 2012, 19:18 GMT

nice precise anaylassis
ther are much better when chasing....

Cpt.Meanster
on October 14, 2012, 20:13 GMT

I think Auckland will whack the KKR. The Indian players are mediocre. Gambhir cannot buy a run at the moment, Balaji is one of the worse bowlers in the game, and all rest of the Indian players can ONLY play in India. Even their international stars are only in it for the money. On the other hand, Auckland have a strong vibe. They are all kiwi boys playing together as a unit. You cannot buy that with money. No matter how much I love the IPL, I have to be practical in my aspirations. The IPL sides are manufactured teams built on the values of corporate finance, salary caps, auctions, glamour and glitz. Team ethics is non-existent in them. Only the Delhi Daredevils look like getting anywhere closer to the semi finals. Even they are dependent on the overseas players. The local Indian players are simply not good enough to play at this level, period.

WickyRoy.paklover
on October 14, 2012, 22:06 GMT

@Cpt Meanster,hats off to ur unprejudice anaylsis.

on October 14, 2012, 23:53 GMT

NZ & anyone playing Australia!

on October 15, 2012, 8:40 GMT

Auckland Aces is a surprise package for CL T20 2012, as we had T&T in previous editions... very simple, if Azhar Mehmood & Guptill click, they can won any of the match then.

baghels.a
on October 15, 2012, 9:09 GMT

Keep your chin up Cpt.Meanster, i know you are an IPL and India supporter through thick and thin. Give Indian players some time and they will rise, afterall didn't our u-19 team won the WC in tougher conditions with 50 overs to face.Yes we play better in home conditions but sure the can adapt which they have done in the past to be no.i in tests and odi's.BTW most of the professional franchises are manufactured for eg- MAN C,PSG but that didn't stop Man C from winning EPL.... but do feel IPL teams need to play together more than just 50 days of IPL , why can't they replace some of our inept state associations and play even 50 over cricket !!!! @WickyRoy.paklover when will you give an unprejudiced view of Indian cricket or will you continue the hating ??

Sudhir65
on October 15, 2012, 9:43 GMT

KKR will walk over Auckland

Edassery
on October 15, 2012, 10:38 GMT

It's predictably awkward to see Indian IPL players going clueless against bounce and carry of even first class level bowlers. At the moment, Indian teams participating here doesn't have a single good Indian batsman that can play under testing conditions... Apart from Unmukt Chand may be...

on October 15, 2012, 12:42 GMT

Auckland will win this one through guts and teamwork. Kkr just rely on their overseas imports and if a genuine domestic side would not even make it into this competition. Kkr trying to buy their wins. Aa trying to play better cricket

Tamim420
on October 15, 2012, 12:58 GMT

Without Sakib impossible to comeback KKR. Team management should mind it that sakib was playing a good score against pakistan (World best bowling side).
Another is Newzeland cricketer's are always weak against spin. So that its important to add a spin bowler.